Certain musical instruments, such as violins and violas, are played from a position under the chin of the musician. The ideal points of contact to hold a violin are the left-hand, chin and collarbone. A problem arises with the collarbone contact because the edge of the violin is generally at an angle of about 45° to the collarbone and there is precious little to cushion this contact. This positioning can cause the player some discomfort.
To address this problem most players fit a padded shoulder rest which generally sits further away from the collarbone on the shoulder itself.
Whilst this arrangement can seem more comfortable during play, unfortunately it gives rise to a serious problem of shoulder tensions caused by an automatic clamping-down of chin and hunching-up of shoulder.
Even when padded shoulder rests are used there is a sense that the instrument may slip and fall, particularly when the player is shifting hand position and using vibrato which has a tendency to destabilise an already awkward situation.
This process of clamping tension can persist so that advanced students show up at Music College to start a formal training with all sorts of painful neck, jaw and spinal problems, which have to be sorted out first. The situation is bad enough to force some players to stop playing completely. These problems have been well documented in medical books over a number of years.
The paradox of this situation is that the more comfortable the shoulder rest is, the more it restricts actual playing. The shoulder is obstructed by the clumsy shape of the shoulder rest when reaching for high notes. There is an added danger in that many players fit the shoulder rest at the wrong angle which leads into problems of leverage against the jaw and twisting of the neck. This all leads onto a set of very painful debilitating conditions.
There is a need for an alternative support rest that facilitates more comfortable playing without causing the numerous painful reactions which are so prevalent.